Man Keegan Is Back From Kenya
Man Keegan Kagwe, the European Representative of Chama Cha Mwananchi (CCM) has just returned from Kenya. KSB had a brief exchange with man Keegan about the situation in Kenya, his Party and his view on KSB.
KSB: You have just been to Kenya. What is your view about the latest situation in the country?
KEEGAN: Well, the situation in Kenya seems rather tense though there is a sign that normality is coming back slowly and since the signing of the peace pact between Prime Minister designate Raila Odinga and H.E President Mwai Kibaki, things are getting better day by day.
KSB: You were on the ground for some time. Do you think the peace agreement will stick under the current circumstances?
KEEGAN: For sure after being on the ground for some time, I think that the peace pact will stick because both Hon Raila and President Kibaki have sworn to put away their personal and political difference and concentrate on reconciliation process of building one strong and peaceful Kenya for the benefit of all Kenyans.
KSB: What is your view on tribalism in Kenya and do you think it has worsened after the general elections?
KEEGAN: Trabalism has never been an issue in Kenya until recently because as a matter of fact, Kenyans have been living peacefully together since independence and even intermarriages between Kenyans of different tribes is very common so it’s only some few dirty politicians who are trying to divide Kenyans.
KSB: From your point of view, how should the country move forward?
KEEGAN: I would just repeat what the chief mediator Honorable former UN Secretary General Dr Kofi Annan said during the peace agreement signing. It’s time to forget the past and open a new chapter in Kenya, a chapter of peace and reconciliation process. This is because it’s only Kenyans who can save the country.
KSB: You are a leading member of CCM. What is the position of the Party in relation to the post election crisis?
KEEGAN: As one of CCM leaders, I think I speak on behalf of my Party and we all agree that both Hon Raila and President Kibaki should share power equally because we all know that the Prime Minister’s seat is the most powerful seat in the House.
KSB: Your Party leader, Koigi wa Wamwere, was defeated at the polls. What were the main reasons why Wamwere failed to make it to Parliament despite his known popularity?
KEEGAN: Let me say frankly that gone are the days when Kenyans used to vote for someone because one had a big name or call it sympathy voting. This time Kenyans have realized that one has to deliver or show some maendeleo in the home area otherwise you are out. That’s why you saw those big names like Koigi, Njenga Karume, Wangari Maathai etc, losing their respective seats.
KSB: Your Sec-gen has recently been in Sweden. Had he a political or personal agenda?
KEEGAN: I met my Secretary General Mr Dick Kamau here shortly before I left for Nairobi and he had come for some personal matters regarding his family. He also joined me in Nairobi just some few days before I came back to Stockholm.
KSB: CCM has been very quiet after the elections. Why?
KEEGAN: Well I can’t say for sure why but as far as I am concerned, CCM is still a young political Party in Kenya and as time goes by it will grow and become one Strong force, hopefully in future.
I think that KSB should work more on uniting Kenyans here in Sweden. I realized that KSB is even very popular in Kenya as more Kenyans are browsing Kenyan websites about Kenyans in European countries.
Okoth Osewe
Diplomat Kinyua’s Container Lost On The Way To Canada
A new scandal is brewing at the Kenyan Embassy in Stockholm following the disappearance of a container packed with the property of Diplomat George Kinyua who has not received the container more than one and a half months after he left Sweden for Canada together with members of his family.
According to information gathered by KSB, a Company called “VIP Shipping Company” was initially awarded the contract to ferry Kinyua’s belongings to Canada.
After the contract was awarded to VIP Shipping, Ms Jenipher Awuor, the Principal Counselor and Linnet Vitisa the Finance attaché, allegedly approached a Mr. Kristian running a Cargo company for a quotation for the subcontracting which Mr. Kristian did. Kristian allegedly gave the Lady diplomats a list of other companies dealing in containers to show that his quotation was the lowest.
To Kristian’s surprise, the Lady diplomats demanded some money (Kitu kidogo) from him as payment for the subcontracting. Kristian is reported to have been very angry because his argument was that the quotation he was offering was already too low and to demand for more cash to go in private pockets was unacceptable.
Despite the Kitu kidogo difficulties, Kinyua’s container was packed with his personal belongings and the last action is that Kristian’s company picked it up to transport it to Canada where Kinyua had been transferred.
It is not clear what happened between VIP Shipping company and Kristian’s company and investigations are continuing. However, when the container failed to arrive in Canada, KSB learnt that Kristian went underground as it downed on VIP Shipping that Kristian was actually a known conman.
It is understood that the amount he quoted “could not transport a container to Canada” but he landed the subcontracting all the same from the Lady diplomats. “It is possible that he dumped the container somewhere and ate the money”, a source told a KISS agent working on the story.
The lady diplomats who wired Kristian could not trace him either, creating a huge crisis at the Embassy. Now, Kinyua’s family is undergoing great difficulties because all their personal belongings were packed in the container.
VIP Shipping began following Kristian’s company with little success forcing them to report the matter to Swedish police. It is at this point that Kristian reportedly surfaced to try and discuss the matter with his lady contacts at the Embassy who negotiated the subcontracting.
The Madams were in the middle of the subcontracting between VIP Shipping and Kristian’s company in a corrupt deal that reportedly benefited the lady diplomats. At the moment, neither VIP Shipping nor Kristian knows the whereabouts of the container.
Mr. Kristian is said to be linked to a Kenyan lady from Ukambani and when she alerted her boyfriend that the police were looking for him, Kristian told her that the game at play is short and that the Embassy would soon “learn its lessons”. Interestingly, Kristian sympathizes with Kinyua whom he views as a victim of circumstances of corruption rife at the Kenyan Embassy in Stockholm.
When Mr. Cheruiyot, former Financial attaché at the Embassy, was about to be deported, it is reported that the same VIP Shipping company was awarded the contract to transport his property after which VIP Shipping subcontracted another company, a deal where money changed hands.
One of the main reasons why Mr. Cheruiyot’s kidnap operation was organized is because top Embassy staff had already benefitted financially from the container deal and if Cheruiyot was not going to be deported with his container, huge losses were going to be incurred by the corrupt at the Embassy who had already gotten their cut.
Okoth Osewe
About KSB
New Book On Kenya December 2007 Election Crisis: In Circulation
-
Recent Comments
Jackal News men on Why Did Raila Say “Kibak… Jackal News men on Why Did Raila Say “Kibak… shameika on Reader Request: Kibaki’s… lois on Deputy Chief Justice Ms Nancy … Raila Njamba on Why Did Raila Say “Kibak… NEW: COUNTRY STATS
